title: Relationship between red cell membrane fatty acids and adipokines in individuals with varying insulin sensitivity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Plasma leptin and adiponectin, and membrane phospholipid fatty acid composition are implicated into the mechanism of insulin resistance but no clear pattern has emerged. Hence, this study examined these variables in subjects presenting to the diabetic clinic for a diagnostic glucose tolerance test.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body composition, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, and red cell and plasma phospholipid fatty acids were assessed from 42 normal and 28 impaired glucose tolerant subjects. Insulin sensitivity was determined by homeostatic model assessment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The plasma phosphatidylcholine fatty acid composition of the impaired glucose tolerant subjects was similar to that of normal subjects. However, the impaired glucose tolerant subjects had significantly lower linoleic (P<0.05), eicosapentaenoic (P<0.05) and docosahexaenoic (P<0.01) acids in the red cell phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine compared with the normal subjects. Moreover, red cell phosphatidylcholine docosahexaenoic acid correlated positively with adiponectin (r=0.290, P<0.05) but negatively with leptin (r=-0.252, P<0.05), insulin (r=-0.335, P<0.01) and insulin resistance (r=-0.322, P<0.01). Plasma triglycerides, leptin and glucose combined predicted about 60% of variation in insulin level whereas insulin was the only component that predicted the membrane fatty acids.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We postulate that membrane phospholipids fatty acids have an indirect role in determining insulin concentration but insulin has a major role in determining membrane fatty acid composition.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Science, London Metropolitan University, UK. y.min@londonmet.ac.uk
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lowy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Swaminathan
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines / Q000097:blood*; D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000097:blood; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000097:blood*; D020404:Glycerophospholipids / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; D052242:Adiponectin; D001786:Blood Glucose; D005227:Fatty Acids; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D020404:Glycerophospholipids; D007328:Insulin; D020738:Leptin; D014280:Triglycerides; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D019787:Linoleic Acid